Friday 13 March 2009

Bill Frisell - Nashville (1995)

01.Gimme a Holler
02.Go Jake
03.One of These Days
04.Mr. Memory
05.Brother06.Will Jesus Wash the Bloodstains from Your Hands
07.Keep Your Eyes Open
08.Pipe Down
09.Family
10.We're Not from Around Here
11.Dogwood Acres
12.Shucks
13.The End of the World
14.Gone.


Bill Frisell (guitar)
Robin Holcomb (vocals)
Ron Block (acoustic guitar, banjo)
Jerry Douglas (dobro)
Adam Steffey (mandolin)
Pat Bergeson (harmonica)
Viktor Krauss (bass).

Bill Frisell is a gentle giant of modern guitar, pure in his jazz-influenced mission to uncover and reinvent American music across a disparate styles. At once unmistakable for the fluid, elastic sound of his instrument and restless in his pilgrimage across often widely varied sources, Frisell can find the lyrical gold beneath pop, rock, and classical sources--devling into Madonna, Aaron Copeland, and John Hiatt with equal success. Nashville finds Frisell exploring the kindred small group dynamics and string-bending aesthetics of country and bluegrass in the company of a shrewdly-chosen players including members of Alison Krauss' esteemed Union Station band, virtuoso dobro player Jerry Douglas, and vocalist Robin Holcomb, who confers an earthy beauty to the set's three vocals culled from Neil Young ("One of These Days"), Hazel Dickens ("Will Jesus Wash the Bloodstains from Your Hands"), and Skeeter Davis's country crossover, "The End of the World." Keening lyricism, soul-deep emotions, and the kinship of wonderful musicians communicating across putative stylistic borders make Nashville a stunning achievement. --Sam Sutherland.

1 comment:

  1. Nashville

    Entertainment Weekly (5/30/97, p.73) - "...one of the freshest variations on mostly unplugged C&W around. Frisell lays down his sweet and languid sound, getting help form such folks as Dobro king Jerry Douglas and vocalist Robin Holcolm. It's lazy, smart, twilight-on-the-back-porch music." - Rating: B+
    Down Beat (8/97, pp.48-49) - 4 1/2 stars (out of 5) - "...it's hard to believe Frisell's only exposure might have been from watching Minnie Pearl and the Grand Ol' Opry on TV....what is most striking about Frisell...is how...he makes you forget where you are, losing you in a swirl of creativity that has little or nothing to do with genres or...settings..."

    JazzTimes (9/97, p.73) - "...Frisell's sweet 'n' slightly twisted songwriting flair is on the money here....Frisell's guitaristic approach, often sounding like a cross between Chet Atkins and a Martian pedal steel, player shows respect for tradition by tugging it in new directions."

    Option (9-10/97, p.95) - "...magically sidesteps the faceless tedium that dooms so many instrumental albums. There are several reasons for that: Frisell's nimble, confident finger-picking; a group of stellar Music City pickers who support Frisell without getting flashy or pretentious; and a unifying musical voice..."

    Musician (8/97, p.91) - "...an evocation of folk traditions that have been gathering steam under the heading of Americana....retro visions of drive-in movies, endless highways, and lost innocence....among the earthiest and [most] deeply felt of Frisell's many fine recordings..."

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